The invention is concerned with drive sprockets for conveyor belts. In particular the invention concerns a split drive sprocket comprised of two sections, easily assembled on a drive shaft without dismantling of the conveyor belt.
Split conveyor drive sprockets are known, including those designed for modular plastic conveyor belts. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,356, showing a two-section split sprocket having provision for receiving diagonally-inserted retention bolts.
Split drive sprockets previous to this invention have required the assembly of retention bolts or screws in order to retain the two sections together, against radial separation. Besides being somewhat difficult in assembly, such split sprockets have generally been more complex and more expensively made than the present invention described below.